Hockey Seeks to Skate Around Rules Even Trudeau Is Following

(Bloomberg) -- In Canada, hockey transcends everything -- even the rules a prime minister has to live by.

Justin Trudeau has doggedly stuck to border restrictions during the pandemic, including a measure to set up quarantine hotels, where air travelers are required to stay when they first arrive. He’s planning to follow the country’s self-isolation rules himself when he returns from next week’s Group of Seven summit in the U.K.

But there’s one group that may get an exemption from a strict 14-day quarantine: hockey players. The government is close to a decision on allowing National Hockey League teams to go back and forth between Canada and the U.S., so that the Canadian team that makes it to the league’s semi-final can play games in its home arena. An announcement is expected in the coming days.

It would represent a big first move in reopening the border and a privilege that has yet to be given to other sports. Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays are playing their home games in Buffalo, New York, while the Toronto Raptors basketball team endured a miserable season playing in Tampa, Florida. Professional soccer clubs from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver have had to temporarily set up in the U.S. in order to play in Major League Soccer.

A special accommodation for the NHL would draw attention to just how restrictive Canada’s travel rules are. Its border with the U.S., the world’s longest, has been closed to most non-essential travel since March 2020. When people do cross into Canada, they must quarantine for two weeks. (Truck drivers bringing in goods, among others, are given an exception.)

All season long, Canada’s seven NHL teams have played only among themselves in a separate North Division to avoid travel into the U.S.

Two rounds of playoff hockey will produce one Canadian team to compete in a semi-final series. Without an exemption from Trudeau’s government, that team would need to relocate to the U.S. to continue, a clear competitive disadvantage.

Last year’s playoffs, held before a Covid-19 vaccine was available, were played in Toronto and Edmonton, Alberta.

The storied Montreal Canadiens -- the second most successful franchise in North American major sports, after the New York Yankees -- are currently playing the Winnipeg Jets to determine which club moves on to play an American rival.

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